Fast Heart
by HermioneLumos
Summary: What happens when a stressful day sets off one of the doctors hidden illnesses? Please review... x
1. Chapter 1

"So... Whats going on?" Sam walking into the ED to find patients everywhere. There wasn't enough room for beds.  
"Sorry to call you in on your day off!" Zoe shouted, wearing blue overalls. "But we really aren't coping this afternoon. Coach crash. These all need checking over but there are more seriously injured."  
"Okay no worries Zoe." Sam said, running into the staff room and throwing her stuff into her locker. She really wanted to be at home. She really didn't feel strong enough to come into work.

She threw on some scrubs and walked into resus to see Zoe being splattered by blood, probably from an arterial bleed. She bet Zoe was glad she was wearing the overalls. She would probably cry if she got any blood on her outfit.  
"So what do you need me to do?" Sam asked.  
"Anything! Just anything." Zoe said and Sam was taken back by Zoe snapping at her. Sam stood there for a second, shocked, before helping them stop the bleed. The bleed stopped but the patient deteriorated.  
"Okay, beginning CPR." Zoe said, and Sam watched. Sam was still putting pressure on the wound, not lifting up the tissue in case the bleed began again.

After what seemed like forever, the patient's heart began to beat again. Sam saw how relieved Zoe was. She watched her stand back, un twine her fingers and smile. Sam couldn't help but smile at her. Zoe was pleased with her sucess.

Sam wondered why Zoe had snapped earlier. She hadn't said anything wrong, so why snap? She came to the conclusion that because Nick wasn't here, the ED was chaos. She wondered who would be their clinical lead now... Zoe bought her out of her daze.  
"Sam?" Zoe said, waving her hand infront of her face. "Sam."  
"Huh? Sorry." Sam said. "What?"  
"We are done here. We need to get as much help as we can in cubicles so canyou go there please?"  
"What about this patient?" Sam said, pointing to the one next to them.  
"We can manage." Zoe said.  
"But I can help..."  
"Out, now please." Zoe said, running her hand through her hair. Yes, Zoe was in deed very stressed. Sam put her hands up as if to surrender and walked out of resus, getting ready for cubicles.

"So, i'm here to stitch up your head and then you can go." Sam said, getting set up.  
"I know, just do it already." The girl said. Sam raised her eyebrows at her, not liking her attitude.  
"I will do it, when I am ready." Sam said, feeling lightheaded as she stood up. She shook her head to get rid of it, but the patient thought Sam was shaking her head at her.  
"Don't shake your head at me! I didn't ask to be here."  
"I wasn't shaking my head at you. I was just a little dizzy." Sam told her, getting frustrated.  
"Okay look." The girl said. "I don't want someone doing stitches on me that can't see straight."  
"I can see perfectly fine!" Sam said, heart beating in her chest.  
"Well I want another doctor."  
"Well, you're stuck with me." Sam said.  
"Well, i'm refusing treatment." The girl folded her arms. Tess walked in on them.

"What is going on here?" Tess asked after hearing the commotion.  
"I wanta different doctor." The girl said.  
"Whats wrong with Sam?" Tess asked.  
"She can't even see straight." The girl told Tess, and Sam sighed.  
"I can see perfectly fine!" Sam got frustrated again and her heart began to pound. She through the stitching set onto the bed. "Look, just find another doctor." She said, and walked out, stumbling over her own feet. She grabbed the counter top and looked behind her before standing up straight.  
"Sam?" Tess began.  
"Im fine. I tripped." She said, and stormed off into the staff room.

She sat there for a little while and realised that she didn't need to be here, but they were busy. She wasn't any use sat there, to she went back to cubicles, picked up another patient file and smiled when this one was a young girl. She knew that the girl wouldn't fight her back.  
"Hi." Sam said, opening the curtains. "Im Doctor Nichols but you can call me Sam."  
"Hi." The girls mother said.  
"So what happened?" Sam asked.  
"Well, we were on the coach, and when it crashed, she smacked her head on the window." The girls mother explained. "She hit it pretty hard."  
"Was she knocked out?" Sam asked.  
"No, but she passed out when we got here." The mother said.  
"Did you tell someone?" Sam asked, getting a torch out of her pocket.  
"No, because she woke up almost straight away." Her mother said, and Sam nodded. She turned to the girl, who couldn't be any older than 7.  
"Hi, whats your name?" She asked softly.  
"Kelsie." The girl replied quietly.  
"Okay Kelsie, I want you to follow this light with your eyes." Sam said, shining the torch into her eyes. Her pupils were slightly dilated. Before Sam could finish, the girls eyes rolled back and she began to fit. "Can I get some help in here please?!" Sam shouted and Zoe ran in. She just happened to be in reception.  
"What happened?" Zoe asked, as Tom and Linda joined them.  
"She hit her head on the coach window, passed out earlier, and as I was checking for signs of a concussion she started to fit." Sam took hold of Kelsies arms.  
"Whats going on?" The mother asked, who looked very frightened. "Will she be okay?"  
"We need to get her to resus. Now." Zoe said, and they wheeled her into resus. "Zoe checked her pupils. "We need a CT."  
"Ill phone." Tom said, and walked over.  
"Whats going on?!" Kelsies mother asked.  
"I think its best if you wait outside." Linda said, guiding her to the exit of the room.  
"Whens the CT booked for?" Zoe asked Tom.  
"Ten minutes." Tom said.  
"Sam?" Zoe asked, but Sam wasn't listening. Sam was worried about the girl, and it was making her anxious. "Sam!"  
"Sorry. What?" Sam replied.  
"Help?!" Zoe had a reason to snap this time. Sam didn't know why she was feeling like she was.  
"Yes! Sorry!" Sam said, and held the girls head until the fitting stopped. They layed her flat on her back.  
"Lets get her down for this CT." Zoe said, checking her pupils again. "One pupil has blown."  
"What does that mean?!" The mother asked, watching as her daughter was wheeled away.  
"It means she could have swelling on the brain..." Zoe stopped and explained while Sam went down to the CT, heart pounding faster than it ever had before.


	2. Chapter 2

**(Woah! I just want to thank you guys for favouriting and following! Thats probably the most I have had from just one chapter of a story! Thanks again :D)**

Wheeling Kelsie down to the CT scan, Sam felt a little lightheaded again and her heart was pounding. Sam rubbed her chest while watching the CT, hoping to calm her anxiety and slow down her heart beat.

Watching the scan, she felt that sudden bout of weakness that she had before she began work. This worried her, as she knew she had a condition that could be coming back in the worst time possible. The scan came to an end and Sam went to get Kelsie and take her back up to her mother.

"Kelsie!" The mother had been crying, as tear tracks were down the sides of her face. Zoe had probably explained what has happened. "Will she be okay?"  
"We will do everything we can." Zoe explained, checking the pupils again. "Not good, not good."  
"What?" Sam asked.  
"The other pupil is slightly dilated." Zoe explained and heard Sam take a deep breath. "We need those CT results."

Just then the result arrived and they looked at them. Sam knew it was bad, so she exhaled and ran her hand through her hair. There was fluid around the brain.  
"Im afraid that this is bad news..." Zoe explained to the mother.  
"What?" The mother asked, eyes brimming with tears again.  
"She has swelling on the brain, and has blown a pupil. Im afraid that there isn't much more we can do." Zoe explained. Sam could see that it was hard for Zoe to explain.  
"What?" The mother whispered and broke down. "She's only seven!"  
"We are sorry. Head traumas are sometimes very hard to fix." Zoe said, and then the inevitable beep of the monitors. Zoe looked at Sam, and then went to begin CPR.

Doing the CPR, Sam watched on,tears brimming at her own eyes and her heart beating faster. She was beginning to get short of breath but tried to keep it quiet.

They were interrupted by the mother.  
"Stop." She said, watching. "Stop." Zoe looked at her and slowly stopped doing chest compressions. "She's gone isn't she?" Zoe nodded.  
"We are sorry." Zoe said. "We did everything we could."  
"Even if she was breathing, she still wouldn't be here, would she?" She looked up at Sam, and Sam shook her head, praying not to cry. Something was wrong. She couldn't breatch properly. She gasped for breath and held her chest, feeling her heart begin to bear excessively fast.  
"Sam?" Zoe said, looking at her with concern.  
"Im fine." She gasped, and fled from the room. Zoe wanted to follow and make she Sam was okay, but Kelsies mother was very upset and needed some comforting.

Sam ran out into reception and began to feel light headed. She leaned over the counter and tried to slow down her breathing. She felt a hand on her shoulder. It was Tess.  
"Sam?" She said, looking at how pale Sam was and how short of breath she was.  
"Im fine. Just let me get my breath back." Sam said, and looked up at her.  
"You're crying." Tess said softly.  
"I know." Sam said, using a lot of her strength. She began to shake as she held herself up and she panicked, making her breathing pick up its pace.  
"I think we should get you checked over..." Tess said, worrying about Sam. Her breathing didn't sound good at all.  
"I'm fine." Sam gasped and grabbed her chest. Zoe rushed up to them as she came out of resus.  
"Whats going on?" Zoe said, putting her hand on Sam's back and rubbed it to sooth her.  
"Nothing!" Sam said, standing up. "Im... fine." Sam said, feeling incredibly lightheaded from hyperventilating. Her knees buckled from the weakness she felt, and Tess and Zoe caught her.  
"Can we get some help here please?" Tess shouted and Tom ran over.  
"Get a trolley for me Tom." Zoe said, and Tom did as he was asked. He rushed over, and Zoe and Tess lifted her up.

The wheeled her into resus and Tess slipped the oxygen mask over her face, hoping to reduce the amount of breaths she took per minute.  
"Okay, we need an urgent ECG." Zoe said.  
"On it." Tom said, who left the room to get the equiptment. They connected up the pads and put them on Sam's chest, and the machine began to read her heart beat.  
"She's very tachycardic." Zoe said, looking at the graph the echocardiagram produced. "Just over three hundred beats per minute!"

Sam opened her eyes and knew she had a mask on her face. She tried to control her breathing enough to be able to speak.  
"Tachycardia." She rasped, and it wasn't understandable.  
"What?" Zoe asked.  
"Say it again." Tess said softly, and Sam could feel her heart beat slowing down.  
"Tachycardia." Sam said, able to get the words out. "I have Tachycardia."


	3. Chapter 3

"You have tachycardia?" Tess asked, once Sam had calmed down a bit.  
"Yes. Have done ever since I was a child." Sam said, holding her chest as if not to let it explode.  
"It would have helped if you had told us." Zoe said.  
"Yes but I wanted to help. If you had known then you wouldn't have let me help Kelsie." Sam sighed and winced as her chest hurt. Tess moved the oxygen mask back on her face but Sam pushed it off.  
"You need it Sam." Tess said as she was sat by theside of the bed.  
"No i'm fine." Sam said. Tess raised her eyebrows. "Let me talk, and i'll put it back on."  
"Fine." Zoe said.  
"Well, I've had tachycardia ever since I found it hard to breath and collapsed in primary school." Sam said and put the mask back on and took a few more breaths before taking it off. "Had countless ECGs and stress tests." Sam sighed. "I got fed up of them and stopped going. I guess this was coming to me." She shrugged and put the mask back on.  
"When was the last time this happened?" Tess asked, and Sam moved the mask again.  
"I don't know, maybe a few years ago. Ive had a few close scared because I always run, but it hasn't been like this." Sam put the mask back on and took some deep breaths before Zoe spoke.  
"Your heart fate is slowly making its way back down..." Zoe said. "It was at around-"  
"Three hundred beats a minute?" Sam asked lifting the mask. "Yeah I know. It does that."  
"What normally causes your heart to beat that fast?" Tess asked. "I know what the symptoms are, i'm just asking what caused yours?"  
"Mostly stress." Sam sighed.  
"What stressed you out today?" Zoe asked.  
"Everything. I didn't feel well but you needed my help." Sam shrugged. "I thought it was nothing."  
"You should have stayed at home." Tess said.  
"I didn't know this was going to happen." Sam sighed.  
"Was it just that you didn't feel well?" Zoe asked softly. "Or was it what happened in resus earlier?" Zoe looked at the ECG and saw Sam's heart had sped up a little. Sam took some more breaths out of the oxygen mask.  
"Take deep breaths Sam." Tess said, watching as Sam took off the mask to glare at her.  
"I know what to do." Sam said. "And Zoe, you got it right."  
"What happened earlier?" Tess asked as Sam went to speak.  
"No, let me explain." Zoe said, watching Sam. "There was a young girl in resus earlier, about seven years of age, had severe blunt head injury. There wasn't anything we could have done.

A tear slipped down Sams face as Zoe explained. The monitors beeped to show Sams heart rate increasing again.  
"Keep taking deep breaths." Tess said as Sam seemed to panic. "Don't worry."

They continued to monitor the ECG while Sams breathing started to improve again.  
"Thats it Sam." Tess said to comfort Sam. Soon enough, her breathing returned next to normal.  
"So now that we know you have tachycardia, we know what to look for." Zoe raised an eyebrow at Sam and she rolled her eyes in return.  
"Yes." Sam said. "But this won't keep me out of resus."  
"No." Zoe shook her head. "But if I see any signs of this, you are going to be checked over, okay?"  
"Fine." Sam huffed.  
"Now rest for a little while." Zoe said. "I suspect you are tired after your little episode."  
"Just a little." Sam said, still breathing oxygen from the mask.  
"Then get some rest and I will check on you in a little while." Zoe smiled before Tess and her left the room.

"How is she?" Tom asked as they walked out.  
"She's fine. Just resting." Tess said, putting her hand on his arm to comfort him as he was clearly worried.  
"Tachycardia?" Tom guessed and Zoe spun around and nodded.  
"How did you know?" Zoe asked.  
"She showed most signs for it a minute ago." Tom shrugged.  
"Gosh..." Zoe said, running her hands through her hair. "I probably should have noticed and stopped it." She looked guilty.  
"You were busy Zoe." Tom said, watching Sam fall asleep.  
"I could have stopped this." She said.  
"Zoe, it was probably inevitable with the condition of the ED today. Don't blame yourself." Tom smiled and Zoe couldn't help but smile.  
"I guess so." Zoe sighed. "Thanks."  
"For what?"  
"Cheering me up." Zoe said, before walking away, and Tom returned his attention to Sam.

**(Thats it! Just a quick story that came to me.)**


End file.
